Everton 1 - Tottenham 0: Nikica Jelavic does the trick

THE last Spurs manager who lost three Premier League games on the bounce was shown the door by chairman Daniel Levy.

Nikica Jelavic is delighted after scoring his first Premier League goal []

Juande Ramos found himself surplus to requirements and replaced by Harry Redknapp in October 2008.

But Levy will do everything in his power to bolt the White Hart Lane exits as he looks to hang on to a manager who, although suffering a temporary blip of three straight league defeats, is very much on England’s radar.

It seems, though, that all the Three Lions talk is turning Spurs into lambs as they hurtle out of the title race and find their third place under threat from neighbours Arsenal and Chelsea.

Insipid in the first half, Spurs stepped on the gas after the break and deserved a reward for carving out decent chances.

But it was Everton boss David Moyes who saw his 10th anniversary candles burning brightly as his side extended their unbeaten sequence to nine games.

In his decade in charge at Goodison Park the Scot has never been handed a stack of cash in the transfer market.

Nikica Jelavic piles misery on Spurs

But when chairman Bill Kenwright opens the cheque book, Moyes is eternally grateful. In January, out of the financial maelstrom which has engulfed Rangers, Nikica Jelavic arrived for £5.5 million.

It had been such a timid opening that you half suspected the so-called gentleman’s agreement over Louis Saha had been expanded to include a pact of little hostility in either area.

That all changed the moment Jelavic announced his arrival as a potential Goodison hero with a strike of power and panache to waken a slumbering crowd.

Inspired by his first Premier League goal, Jelavic took on free-kick responsibilities, a curling effort palmed to safety by Friedel at full stretch.

With Friedel also blocking a Marouane Fellaini attempt, it was a concerned Redknapp who trotted out to his technical area urging more effort from his subdued side.

Jermain Defoe who started for once ahead of former Everton striker Saha, was squeezed out by a death-or-glory challenge in the box by Johnny Heitinga while Gareth Bale, struggling to impose himself, fired a free-kick just wide.

Redknapp had revealed before the game that Moyes had called for an agreement that Saha, sold in January, shouldn’t play in this fixture. A quick look at the rules proved this wasn’t possible or ethical.

He came on for a lacklustre Emmanuel Adebayor and should have witnessed a Spurs recovery in which England striker Defoe was prominent.

Bursting to make his presence felt at both club and international level, Defoe forced Tim Howard into a fine save immediately after the break.

When Scott Parker played him in, there was an even better chance for Defoe but once again it was Howard who came out on top.

Much of the sparkle and buzz of a Tottenham side who entertained the nation for much of the season has disappeared.

They appear to be running out of steam in the title race and need to direct their remaining energies to the FA Cup, in which they face Bolton at White Hart Lane on Saturday in the sixth round.

A trip to Wembley for a semi-final would at least cover up a worrying loss of form at league level.

It was a slackness in front of goal which cost them yesterday, Luka Modric among the culprits smashing one inviting opening over the bar from close range, while Saha and Rafael van der Vaart both went close in added time.

For Everton, life under Moyes isn’t too bad at the moment. Consecutive home wins over Manchester City, Chelsea and now Tottenham, with their own FA Cup quarter-final with Sunderland to follow.